Allottee, Garage, Family, Interest: The RERA Definitions Behind a Bengaluru Agreement for Sale

Open a Bengaluru builder's agreement for sale and the defined terms can arrive in the first pages: allottee, promoter, carpet area, common areas, occupancy certificate. Several of them may be borrowed from the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, where they carry the Act's meanings, not everyday ones. A buyer who reads "garage" as any parking space, or "family" as every relative, can misjudge what the agreement actually promises.

This glossary sets out the Act's own definitions of the terms a buyer meets most often, in plain language, with the section number so you can check the text yourself. It is meant to sit beside your agreement while you read it.

The short answer. Section 2 of the Act defines the key terms. An allottee, under Section 2(d), is the person to whom a plot, apartment or building has been allotted, sold or otherwise transferred by the promoter, including a later purchaser of that allotment but not a tenant. Carpet area, under Section 2(k), is net usable floor area excluding external walls, service shafts and exclusive balconies or terraces, but including internal walls. A garage, under Section 2(y), has a roof and walls on three sides and excludes open parking. Interest, under Section 2(za), must be charged to the buyer at the same rate the promoter would pay. The trade-off: the definitions protect buyers precisely, but only if the buyer reads the agreement with them in mind.

Who are the parties under RERA?

The allottee, the promoter and the agent. In the text of the Act published by the Telangana regulator, Section 2(d) defines an allottee as the person to whom a plot, apartment or building has been allotted, sold, whether as freehold or leasehold, or otherwise transferred by the promoter, and includes the person who subsequently acquires the allotment through sale, transfer or otherwise, but does not include a person to whom the plot, apartment or building is given on rent.

Section 2(zk) defines the promoter widely, including a builder of apartments for sale and its assignees, a developer of plots, development authorities and public bodies selling to allottees, co-operative housing societies building for members, and anyone acting as builder or developer or claiming to act under a power of attorney from the landowner. Its Explanation says that where the builder and the seller are different, both are deemed promoters and are jointly liable. Our earlier report on occupancy and completion certificates under the RERA definitions shows how definitions shape possession rights.

Section 2(zm) defines a real estate agent as a person who negotiates or acts on behalf of one person in a transfer of a plot, apartment or building in a project, by way of sale, and receives remuneration, and it includes a person who introduces buyers and sellers to each other, and property dealers, brokers and middlemen by whatever name called. Section 2(c) defines an agreement for sale simply as an agreement entered into between the promoter and the allottee.

What counts as the property you are buying?

The apartment, plus a share in what is common. Section 2(e) defines an apartment, whether called a block, chamber, dwelling unit, flat, office, showroom, shop, godown, premises, suit, tenement, unit or by any other name, as a separate and self-contained part of any immovable property, including one or more rooms or enclosed spaces, located on one or more floors, in a building or on a plot of land, used or intended for residential or commercial use.

Section 2(n) defines common areas to include the entire land of the project or phase, staircases, lifts, lobbies and fire escapes, common basements, terraces, parks, play areas, open parking areas and common storage, premises for staff, central services such as electricity, gas, water and sanitation, water tanks, sumps and motors, and all community and commercial facilities provided in the project. Section 2(zn) defines a real estate project to include the development of a building, apartments or plots for sale, along with the common areas, development works, improvements and structures, and all easements, rights and appurtenances.

Why do carpet area and garage matter so much?

Because they decide what is yours and what is shared. Section 2(k) says carpet area means the net usable floor area of an apartment, excluding the area covered by the external walls, areas under services shafts, exclusive balcony or verandah area and exclusive open terrace area, but includes the area covered by the internal partition walls of the apartment. The Explanation defines the exclusive balcony, verandah and open terrace as those appurtenant to the apartment and meant for the exclusive use of the allottee.

Section 2(y) says a garage means a place within a project having a roof and walls on three sides for parking any vehicle, but does not include an unenclosed or uncovered parking space such as open parking areas. Open parking areas are listed among common areas in Section 2(n)(iii). For a buyer, this is the key distinction: a covered space with walls on three sides is a garage that the promoter discloses separately at registration under Section 4(2)(i), while open parking falls within the common areas.

What does immovable property include?

More than bricks and land. Section 2(z) says immovable property includes land, buildings, rights of ways, lights or any other benefit arising out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the earth, but not standing timber, standing crops or grass. The definition matters because Section 2(e) describes an apartment as a self-contained part of any immovable property.

For a buyer, the reference to rights of way and other benefits arising out of land is a reminder that access and similar rights form part of what is being bought, alongside the flat and the undivided share in common areas. Our report on measuring carpet area at handover shows how one of these definitions is applied with a tape measure.

Which certificates and plans should you know by name?

Three certificates and one plan. Section 2(m) defines a commencement certificate as the commencement certificate, building permit or construction permit, by whatever name called, issued by the competent authority to allow the promoter to begin development works as per the sanctioned plan. Section 2(q) defines a completion certificate as the certificate certifying that the project has been developed according to the sanctioned plan, layout plan and specifications. Section 2(zf) defines an occupancy certificate as the certificate permitting occupation of a building, which has provision for civic infrastructure such as water, sanitation and electricity.

Section 2(zq) defines a sanctioned plan as the site plan, building plan, service plan, parking and circulation plan, landscape plan, layout plan, zoning plan and such other plan, and includes structural designs, if applicable, and permissions such as environment permission, approved by the competent authority prior to start of a real estate project. Section 2(zb) defines internal development works to include roads, footpaths, water supply, sewers, drains, parks, tree planting and street lighting, among others, as per sanctioned plans.

How do family and interest change the fine print?

Family affects how consent is counted, and interest affects what default costs. Section 2(x) says family includes husband, wife, minor son and unmarried daughter wholly dependent on a person. That definition matters when the Act counts a person and the flats booked in the name of the family as one allottee for two-thirds consent under the Explanations to Sections 14(2)(ii) and 15(1).

Section 2(za) defines interest as the rates of interest payable by the promoter or the allottee. Its Explanation says the rate chargeable from the allottee by the promoter in case of default shall be equal to the rate the promoter shall be liable to pay the allottee in case of default, and that the promoter's interest runs from the date it received the amount until refund, while the allottee's interest runs from the date of default until payment.

If you are reading the agreement for a project such as My Home Whitefield in Kadugodi, or any other, keep this checklist alongside it.

1. Check that the agreement's definitions of carpet area, common areas and garage match Sections 2(k), 2(n) and 2(y).
2. Confirm whether any parking you are paying for is a garage under Section 2(y) or an open parking area within common areas.
3. Check that default interest in the agreement is the same both ways, as Section 2(za) requires.
4. Note who the agreement names as promoter, and whether a separate seller or landowner is involved, under Section 2(zk).
5. Ask for the sanctioned plan as defined in Section 2(zq), including the parking and circulation plan.
6. Note which certificate the builder refers to, commencement, completion or occupancy, and its definition in Section 2.
7. If you plan to rent the flat out, remember that a tenant is not an allottee under Section 2(d).

Frequently asked questions

Who is an allottee under RERA?

Section 2(d) defines an allottee as the person to whom a plot, apartment or building has been allotted, sold, whether freehold or leasehold, or otherwise transferred by the promoter. It includes a person who later acquires that allotment through sale or transfer, but does not include a person to whom the unit is given on rent.

Is open parking a garage under RERA?

No. Section 2(y) defines a garage as a place within a project with a roof and walls on three sides for parking any vehicle, and says it does not include an unenclosed or uncovered parking space such as open parking areas. Section 2(n)(iii) lists open parking areas among the common areas of a project.

What does family mean under the RERA Act?

Section 2(x) says family includes husband, wife, minor son and unmarried daughter wholly dependent on a person. The definition matters because the Explanations to Sections 14(2)(ii) and 15(1) count a person and flats booked in the name of the family as one allottee for two-thirds consent.

What is a sanctioned plan under RERA?

Section 2(zq) defines a sanctioned plan as the site, building, service, parking and circulation, landscape, layout and zoning plans and such other plans, including structural designs where applicable and permissions such as environment permission, approved by the competent authority before the start of a real estate project.

Last updated 2026-10-26. PropNewz Team.